What really attracted me to McKinsey is the way it approaches its operations work: we combine management consulting with real hands-on engineering work. I am a mechanical engineer by trade with an international background - I was born in Venezuela, studied in Canada and Germany, and worked in Europe and South America - and McKinsey's approach allows me to use my training, and lets me continue to experience new geographies.
Intensive Study, international exposure
As I've grown into my McKinsey career, I've been able to specialize, in large part because of the work I started doing in Spain, in the energy field. I've had the chance to work with energy companies worldwide; in Spain, Italy, Portugal, Scandinavia, Germany, and Latin America. What's been particularly interesting to me is how I've been able to develop enough knowledge in that sector so that I can apply it to companies around the world. This is probably the most amazing thing I've gained from McKinsey: a level of knowledge and an understanding of common problems, which allows me to help clients, no matter where they are, on topics that I know really affect them.
Cutting costs, changing mindsets
One of my clients was a European wind turbine manufacturer, who had financial trouble with a product that was in the late stages of development. It was a fantastically interesting product, one of the largest on-shore wind turbines, and it was very technically challenging, but because the product was proving to be so expensive that its future was in question.
We looked at each component of the turbine and worked with the engineers to change the design in order to reduce cost. We were trying to reduce the cost by 20 percent, which was a challenging target, but we were able to exceed it. That alone was important, but what was far more meaningful for me was something the chief engineer told us. He said we had fundamentally changed the approach of the engineers and helped them incorporate cost as a design parameter, which would help them immeasurably going forward.
A different approach
I knew that McKinsey would be a place where people get involved and work relentlessly with their clients to truly find impact. But what has surprised me is the non-hierarchical nature of McKinsey. I had heard about this during recruiting, but have been impressed with how it's played out in practice. In terms of our approach to problem solving, we really are a flat organization: we have very junior employees who can easily reach a partner. The way that we live that in our daily work to make decisions and problem solve has been a very positive surprise for me.
And I've seen it impact our clients. I recently worked on a technical optimization of a power plant, and we were working on communication to deliver to the company's CEO. We were working with junior engineers at the plant on this documentation, which gave them the chance to deliver their work directly to their own CEO, something that would never happen otherwise. This gives the organization the chance to grow their own expertise, and our direct approach makes the whole process happen much more quickly. Because we don't have to work our way up a ladder to talk to someone, we're more agile, more nimble. Together with the client, we make things happen, and we make them happen more quickly.
What I do in my free time
I'm married and have two little boys, a 4 year old and an 8 month old. I like spending time with my family, playing football with my son, and just enjoying my family life.
Offices
Education
| Technische Universitat Berlin |
MSc, Production Engineering |
2005 |
| McGill University |
BEng, Mechincal Engineering |
2000 |
| Other Canada |
Non-degree, Economics, Physics |
1996 |